According to the verdict, Mr. Duke was found guilty of contempt of justice for failing to take action to protect the Los Nevada National Park, as required by a 2020 Supreme Court ruling.
A Colombian court on Saturday ordered a fine and a five-day house arrest for Latin American President Ivan Duque, ruling that the head of state had not implemented a ruling obliging him to protect a national park.
However, experts point out that the decision of the court of Ivage, the capital of the province of Tolima, can not be implemented. A special parliamentary committee must be set up to investigate and prosecute the President of Colombia; the head of state can only be tried by Congress under the Latin American Constitution.
According to the verdict, Mr. Duke was found guilty of contempt of justice for failing to take action to protect the Los Nevada National Park, as required by a 2020 Supreme Court ruling.
The court ruled that the Conservative president would have to pay a fine of about $ 4,000 and would have to set up a special police or army unit to guard the park.
The outgoing head of state – whose term ends in August – has argued that his government is protecting national parks and has complied with the Supreme Court ruling to protect Los Nevada.
He described the verdict in a video shared on social networking sites as “unexplained” and unconstitutional, insisting that the Supreme Court ruling had been carried out.
Justice Secretary Wilson Ruiz told reporters in a videotaped statement that evidence had been submitted to the Ivage court for the government to comply with the Supreme Court ruling, but that it had been ignored.
